NIGEL Farage has been accused of lacking "commitment" to voters by the Tory MP whose constituency the Ukip leader hinted he may fight for in a bid to get a seat in the Commans.

Pressed on reports that he was eyeing up the South Thanet seat in his native Kent at the next general election, Mr Farage said that in fact he had been "thinking about Folkestone".

"I read all that in the papers. It's the last thing on my mind," he told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show of the claims he would take on the pro-EU Conservative Laura Sandys in nearby Thanet.

"To be honest with you I was thinking about Folkestone.

"But it doesn't really matter: I'm not going to say where I'm standing, I'm not even going to think about where I'm standing.

"I am going to stand, but let's get the European elections out of the way first."

To win in Folkestone and Hythe - which was previously held by ex-Tory leader Michael Howard - the eurosceptic leader would need to overturn the 10,000-plus majority enjoyed by Damian Collins.

Mr Collins swiftly hit back on Twitter, posting: "Nigel Farage says 'it doesn't really matter' whether he commits to stand to be an MP in Folkestone or Thanet.

"He's got no commitment."

Mr Farage came fourth in South Thanet with 2,079 votes at the 2005 general election and in 2010 he failed to unseat Commons Speaker John Bercow in Buckingham, coming in third.

But with the party consistently filling third place in national opinion polls ahead of the Liberal Democrats, he is hopeful success in next year's European and council elections will be a springboard to Westminster.

"We will target our resources where we won county council seats, where we won district council seats following the model that the Lib Dems used under Paddy Ashdown building on local strength.

"If you can win at council level, you can win at parliamentary level."

MP Damian Collins

MEP Godfrey Bloom - who was stripped of the Ukip whip after overshadowing its party conference by calling female activists sluts and hitting a journalist - said he would "probably not" return to the fold for the 2014 elections but expected to have a drink with Mr Farage soon.

"We don't know, we don't know. Probably not but I should certainly try to help Ukip as best I can," the Yorkshire and Humber MEP told BBC1's Sunday Politics.

Asked if he could stand as an independent against the party, he said: "Almost certainly not.

"Although I know political support, electoral support is slightly ephemeral but if the elections were next week and I stood I can assure you I would win the seat. But no, I don't think I'll go that route."

He said he was sure he will have a beer with Mr Farage - with whom he shares a Brussels flat - before the month is out despite the party leader's fury over the conference episodes.

Mr Farage said there had been "huge changes" to Ukip which was "now a party that is taking elections seriously and to do that you need some discipline".

"We are not here trying to win friends amongst the liberal elite but we are here to focus on our main policies and Godfrey's problem was he kept making comments about women.